The problems with this: there will be players coming back in any trade and they’ll make money. Also, the Marlins are almost certainly going to have to eat some amount of Stanton’s contract if they wish to get actual talent in return. The Herald reports that the team would “ideally prefer” not to trade Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Justin Bour and Dan Straily, but it seems like they’ll have to unload at least one of them or maybe more in order to really get down to the level where they want to be.

All of which has to be discouraging for Marlins fans. Not that that is a new feeling for Marlins fans.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)